The 10 Best-Paid CEOs of 2012

The perks of being a head honcho just keep on growing

#9: Kenneth Chenault, American Express

Total Compensation: $28 million2012 Performance: +19%

An increase in stock awards, along with a twice-as-large bonus, helped Kenneth Chenault climb up the list significantly this year. The American Express (NYSE:AXP) CEO made 25% more in 2012 as he pocketed a bonus of $4 million and more than $18 million in stock compensation on top of his normal salary of $2 million. Plus, his perks again added up to around $1 million.

That was at least relatively well-deserved if you consider stock performance, though. AXP posted an impressive gain of 19% for the 12-month period … despite the fact that earnings slid 9% year-over-year. It also raised its dividend from 18 cents to 20 last year and is planning another 3-cent improvement this year — a 15% increase.

On top of that, the company has kicked off 2013 as a top-performing Dow Jones Industrial Average component, logging a first-quarter climb of over 17%, which was only bested by tech comeback Hewlett-Packard‘s (NYSE:HPQ) 67% start.